VANCOUVER — Like any newcomer to Twitter, Willie Mitchell was experimenting with social media Saturday night.

While enjoying a glass of wine with his wife, Megan, at the West Coast Lodge in Tofino, the Los Angeles Kings defenceman posted a picture with the caption: ‘No more relaxing place in the world to be.’

“Thirty seconds later, the tsunami sirens started started going off in front of the lodge and I chucked my credit card at the guy and we flew out the door and followed the evacuation route which led to a golf course,” Mitchell recalled Monday after practising with the UBC Thunderbirds. “We bunkered down there for about two hours trying to figure out what exactly was going on.”

When a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off Haida Gwaii at 8:04 p.m., as the Pacific plate and North Amierican Plate slid past each other, tsunami warnings were issued for parts of the central B.C. coast, Haida Gwaii, Alaska and even Hawaii.

“We didn’t feel anything, but if the plates had lifted and dropped, it would have been a big deal in Tofino and a tsunami for sure,” said Mitchell. “When you live in a low-lying area like that, you can go five miles off shore in Tofino and it’s only a 100 feet deep. When a tsunami comes and starts to hit that shallow water, it builds and builds and can be quite significant when it hits the shore. I’ve been on the water my whole life and kind of get that a bit.

“It was do we even stay the night in Tofino because you’re not going to sleep. You’re paranoid about the aftershocks and what could come.”

Former teammate Brendan Morrison has an ocean-front home in Tofino and Mitchell ensured it was safe. He also heard from the West Coast Fishing Club on the west side of Haida Gwaii where he was told the Outpost lodge ‘almost felt like it was sliding into the ocean.’

When Tofino residents and tourists were evacuated to safe zones Saturday, it only emphasized the reality of living in an earthquake region and how people and agencies reacted to the significant event. Mitchell was born in tiny Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, played four seasons for the Canucks and as a current member of the Kings understands the seriousness of it all. He was concerned how late the tsunami warning was issued by provincial authorities to alert local responders and surprised at the demeanour of some he encountered.

“Some had an urgency to them and some kind of laughed a little bit,” added Mitchell, who’s building an ocean-view home in Tofino that will sit 80 feet above the shoreline and willing to accept the risks. “You end up finding out it [siren] went off 45 minutes after the quake and that’s a bit disturbing. In B.C., we need to get that information out sooner. In the U.S., their warning went out at 8:04. A tsunami alarm with the quake happening long before is too late. What kind of warning is that going to be with water over your head?

“It would be nice to see it [information] get more streamlined and get warnings out quicker. If you feel it [quake] fairly close, your warning system is to get to high ground. It’s like anything, the processes will get better after a significant event like this.”

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